Adjusting screw



D. I RANKIN ADJUSTING SCREW Feb. 5, 1946.

' Filed March 1 o, 194s INVENTOR Donald L.ML

9% n ATTORNEY I Patented Feb. 5, 1946 ADJUSTING SCREW Donald L. Rankin, Jackson Heights, N. Y., assignor to Bendix Aviation Corporation, Bendix, N. J.', a corporation of Delaware I Application M ren 10, 1943, Serial No. 478,711

4 Claims. "(01. 151-32) 1 vention relates 't teju mnt, lneCha-. nism for setting and maintaining a predetermined and desired conditionfand more particularly to a novel adjusting screw' adapted for such bur-.

D se, r

..,Adjustment mechanisms heretofore provided for setting a predetermined condition, such as, forjexarnple, the setting ,cf afgas. or oxygen reg.- ulator which is fdesig'ned operate intermittently andat the same'timemairi'taina certain desired pressure in a given chamber,,havef been -.unreliable,

le M 6 I unibeno'f operations 'the vibra-j tions, aceompanyingjeaeh. operation, caused, the, d i t sni m ha i m se i s lf h o n wherethe predetermined condition was no longer maintained.

object of tiiipresent invention; therefore.

is"tc prov.ide a --novel adjustment mechanism adapted to beset for and, thereby, maintain a predetermined and desired condition notwith standing the intensity and the number of vibrations 'that the mechanism may encounter.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel adjusting screw adapted for use'iri'numerous {and ,various applicationswhere the requirement'iis the accuraternaintenance of any predetermined set condition. I A further object of the invention is to provide a novelself-locking adjusting screw which, when once set to maintain a predetermined condition, will reliably maintain such condition notwithstanding any undesirable disturbing forces appliedthe'reto. I

Another object ofthe invention is to provide a jnovel adjusting screw having, basicallyja wedg ing'= action whereby any set conditions "will bein the screw tends to expand outwardly Somemaintained thereby.

Afurther object of the invention is to provide a novel self-locking adjusting screw readily adaptable for use in substantially inaccessible places where it is either impractical or impossible to use separate locking means to assure the maintenance of a desired and set condition.

Another object is to provide a novelsplit screw member, adapted for use in presetting and maintaining any predetermined condition, having a pair of tool receiving members thereon, one .of which must be engaged to turn the screw in one direction and the other of which must be engaged to turn it in an opposite direction.

'A still further object of. the invention is to provide a novel adjustment screw which is simple and inexpensive to manuiactureand extremely reliableinoperation.

Theabove and further objects and novel features of the invention will appear more'iully from the following detailed description-when the.

same is read in connection with the accompanyingdrawing. .It is to be expressly understood, however, that the "drawing is for purposes of illustration only and is not intended as a deiinition;

of the limits or the invention I In the drawing wherein like reference charaete'rs reier to like parts throughout the several views,

, Figurel is a, vertical sectional view'of oneiorm of apparatus embodying Lthe""sub'iect matteroi" the present invention: I a

Figure 2 isa side elevation view of the structure i a I Figure 3. J'us'ting'screwmember of the present invention:

Figure 4 is a front screw of Figure 3;

, Figure 5 is a'slightly modiiied form of the-screw of Figure 3:, 4

Figure 6' is a further modified form of the novel screw' of the present invention; and.

novel adjusting screw.

Referring now to the drawing, ticularly to Figure 3tl1ereoi', the novel screw or the present invention is there shown as comprising an'exteriorly threaded body member I!) having a longitudinal cut or slit ll therein running Figure 7 is a still further modification of thefrom the outer periphery of the screw and in-.

- teriorly thereof to a point beyond the central is formed of brass or some other suitable mate-' longitudinal axis of the screw. The screw itself rial and possesses a certainamount of inherent resiliency so that with the longitudinal slit therewhat or, desired, the screwmay be expanded somewhat bya separateoperation during its construction fi I Apair of tool receiving'or engaging members in the form of slots l2 and I3, adapted for engagement by a screw driver or the like, are'provided on thefrontend of the screw, one of the slots being placed to the left of the longitudinal slit II and the other to the. right of the slit. Furthermore, the interior of the screw may be provided with a hollow annular chamber H, as better shown in Figure 1;. The novel screw thus described provides a mechanism, heretofore unobtainable, adapted to be set to maintain any preselected condition without destroying such adjustment notwithstanding the amount'or in-v is a perspective view of the'novel adelevational view of the novel and more parfunction of the novel adjusting screw of Figure 3, the latterhas been illustrated in Figure 1 as applied'to a portion of a gas-or oxygen regulator v to maintain a preselected value of pressur within achamber Iii.

Chamber i5 is defined by an annular wall l6 having an outlet. I I and an inletpld, the latter being provided with a' valve l9. 'If the structure 7 is used as a part of a demand type of oxygen pressure to close the valve.

regulator, it may be desired to maintain the pressure within chamber ii at about 50 pounds per square inch. This is accomplished by closing anin the nature of af-wedge. By the same token, to rotate the screw to the right, slot l2 must be engaged because if such turning were attempted with the use of slot l3, aperture H would enlarge to provide a positive wedge against rotation.

nular wall l6 byway of a centrally apertured plate 20 which has securedv thereto one end of a bellows-2l, the other end of the bellows being fastenedto a movable plate 22 having a central boss 23 formed thereon.

The central aperture of plate 26 is threaded internally for the reception of the novel selflocking adjusting screw of the present invention. the inner end of which-defines an abutment for a'relatively heavy spring 24, the other end of the spring being sleeved about boss 23. The outer end of the boss rests against a resilient bearing element 25 which is carried by annular chamber I 4 of theadiusting screw. 1

Valve I9 is operatively connected with the movable plate 22 of the bellows through a bell-crank 26, pivoted at 21, anda link 28 interconnecting the crank and movable plate.

Assuming that chamber ll contains oxygen substantially at a pressure of 50'pounds per square inch and the consumer hasdepleted'some of the oxygen therefrom, thepressure drops and as a result bellows 2] expands outwardly to pivot the bell-c'rankclockwise so that valve lIis unseated by oxygen entering from a tank supplying inlet Ill. As soonas suflicient oxygen-has been supplied to chamber l5, bellows 2| collapses swinging the bell-crank in' an opposite direction to seat and close valve [9. The foregoing operation continues, as long as a consumer uses the apparatus and because of continued operation vibrationsare generated which eventually dis-' place ordinary adjustingscrews.

If it should become desirable to maintain a pressure of- 60 pounds per square inch within chamber l5, slot l2 of screw member-l0 (as viewed in Figure 3) is simply engaged by a screw driver or other suitable tool and turned to the By zreasonof longitudinal ,slit ll, therefore, and, further. because of the gfinherent i'esiliency of the screw member, once the screw has been adjusted to maintain a predetermined condition, it will do so for the reason that any tendency lor the screw to reset itself due to vibrations merely causes the, screw to expand outwardly along the longitudinal slit to thereby defin a pmitive and stationary wedge. I

The advantages of the, above-described novel self-locking adjusting screw are deemed apparent since no separate locking means are required and this is of utmost importance in situations where small screw driver is needed to operate" this screw, the blade of which must be inserted in "either ,half of transverse slot' 34 depending upon the desired direction of screw rotation.

The adjusting screwof the present invention hasbeen shown and described above in connecright thus loading plate 22 causing bellows 2| to become less sensitive so that more pressure will be'required within chamber l5 before bellows 2| will collapse to close valve l9. Thus the pressure within the chamber has been increased and the screw, because of. its inherent resiliency and also because of silt I l expands against the wall of its receptive aperture to maintain the load constant notwithstanding the amount or intensity of vibrations.

- Should it become necessary for any reason to maintain a pressure of: only 10 pounds per-square 'tinch within the chamber, screw member III isrotated to the left to release some of the load on, plate 22 and, hence, on the bellows whereby the bellows will collapse in response to 'a lower In rotating screw member H) to the left, slot l3 must be engaged rather than slot l2.

If any attempt were-made to rotate the screw "to the left by engaging slot l2 instead of slot l3, the screw would only look tighter within its receivinginember because by engaging slot 12 to promote a turning to the left would tend to simply enlarge slit II and the screw would act having a longitudinal slitalong the entire length -tion with only one of its applications .for' the purpose of illustration and description, however, itnow will be apparent to those skilledin the art that the adjusting screw is applicable tc many and various uses.

' Although several embodiments of th e present invention have been illustrated and described in detail, it is to be expressly understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Various changes can be made in the "design and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as will now be understood by those skilled in the art. For example, the screw in the present illustration has been shown with an interior chamber l4 simply to receive rubber plug 25yet this is unnecessary and, the screw may be completely solid except for the 1911- 65 gitudinal slit which would appear in the same .manner as shown in the drawing. For a definition of the limits of the invention, reference will be had primarily to' the appended claims.

, 1. A threaded lock screw of resilientmater'sl having a longitudinal slit along the entire length ofone side extending inwardly beyond th central axis of the body of the screw, the body Spread I apart by expandingthe slit, so that the screw will resiliently grip the threaded socket into which it may be threaded, and a. pair of turning tool receiving elements each on opposite sides of the slit.

2., A threaded lock screw of resilient material of one side extending inwardly beyond the central axis of the body of the screw, the body-spread apart by expanding the slit, so that the screw will resiliently grip the .threaded socket into which it maybe threaded, and a pair 01 taming,

the necessary adjustmentis to be made in a tool receiving elements each on opposite sides of the slit, and arranged in line transversely of the slit. i

3. A threaded lock screw of resilient material having a longitudinal slit along the entire length of one side extending inwardly beyond the central axis of the body of the screw, the body spread apart by expanding the slit, so that the screw will resiliently grip the threaded socket into which it maybe threaded, and a pair of turning tool receiving elements each on opposite sides of the slit, said elements comprising separate slots.

1. A threadedlock screw of resilient material 7 havinga longitudinal slit along the entire length turning tool receiving elements each on opposite sides of the slit, each of said elements comprising 10 a series of holes opposite the slit.

DONALD 'L. RANKIN. 

